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Topic: Hewdamia (Read 9313 times)

- Dongarld - located on the western banks of Meer van de Sterren, or Lake of the Stars, this modestly sized city is home to Duke Tore, the KingÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s boyhood friend and most loyal subject. This city has grown rapidly over the last few decades, with all sorts of tradesmen opening businesses and shops throughout the city. The fairly large Meer van de Sterren is home to a seemingly endless supply of fish and is large enough to support hundreds of fishing trawlers in its waters with little difficulty. Fishing is a main source of business and is a large staple in its exports. Its crops yield enough to also sell at the market or even transport to other cities as a source of income for the inclined. The main food source other than fish is cattle. Because of the lush lands surrounding the lake it has made for wonderful grazing and cattle seem to multiply rapidly in the gentle climate.

The cities navy is rather large for it being an inland city, but the ships are all small vessels able to get down the river under the three stone bridges at Shaedra with little difficulty. Most of these vessels are all coast huggers once out in the ocean so the tend to patrol the lake and river in the area. The city itself is sprawled out over the bank of the lake and river with no real design or purpose. The castle and military compound are fortified rather well however, and are the only dark smudge on a wonderful landscape. The castle juts out in the center of the original city with its high walls and ballista overlooking the city and waters below. The buildings that house the military are inside the castle walls and it is more like a large academy than a barracks. Being three stories tall and made of stone and brick it houses all of those in the military who are not married, as well as recruits and militia in times of war, it cuts a rather impressive appearance to any who have never seen it before.

Magic is well known in Dongarld, it is never frowned on as the castle walls and the building that houses the military were helped built by a few Conocha who have knowledge in Earth Magic to make the walls stronger. There is even a small academy in the city that houses at least 50 Conocha a year as well as students. It is also home to the largest area where the crystal required to create the magic staves of the Conocha can be found. In places throughout the surrounding countryside, small areas where these crystals grow can be found in relative abundance for anyone to harvest and use. The main crop of these crystals however grow by the lake and under its waters. Duke Tore, with the express persistence of the local Conocha, has put a tariff on the crystal that grows by the lake and under the water. In fear of having it harvested to quickly, everyone who goes to harvest it from the lake must register at the local academy and also pay a hefty fee to extract it, under the guidance of one of the local Conocha. They have put this in place to maintain control of its use and make sure it is not depleted. The fee also helps in building or buying what the academy needs, minus a small cut that the Duke gets for the tariff.

The city is a main outpost for watching the kingdoms eastern flank from the neighboring Gison, Derevo, and the human Kingdom of Rhomas. There have been few problems in the past few decades but rumors of the Kingdom of Rhomas stirring across the lake preparing for something is begining to circulate.

In 463A, in the Time of the Return of Magic, the city Dongarld was no more than an outpost by the water. A small group of Conocha traveled to the outpost with a few students to look for locations for their academy. What they found when they got there changed the Kingdom instantly. There were bodies scattered everywhere with carrion birds pecking relentlessly at the feast. The bodies of the humans who had built the outpost as well as numerous bodies of Sladiva and corrupted littered the ground staining the grass red with blood. Looking at the outpost a dark banner flee from its walls that sent fear into the older Conocha. A large group of Sladiva bearing a white bloody head on their standard had occupied the outpost as their own. Having had a brother at the outpost Ardus Caog, the leading member in the troupe became enraged and devised a plan to warn the King of this atrocity. They sent a student back by horse to the capital and set off to see what they could do until the KingÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s Army arrived in a few weeks time. The exact details of what happened next are lost in history, but it is known that many of the students and teachers died in the assault on the outpost. But when it was all over, every last one of the Sladiva were destroyed. Ardus Caog was killed in the relentless five day assault after battling the leader who was also an accomplished Conocha. Both men died horribly, but not before the reason behind the Sladiva occupying the outpost. They had found the crystals years before and had planned to build their new city here where they were going to use it as a staging ground in taking over the rest of the lands. It was stopped, and a hatred for the Sladiva hardened the hearts and souls of everyone in the kingdom. Ever since then, the crystals have been kept under watch and the academy is given what they require to build to protect the kingdom. Duke Tore is the direct descendant of Ardus Caog, his own children carry on the line the first hero of Dongarld.

- Shaedra - located near the lush banks of the River Aloma, and is home to many of the most skills trackers and hunters in the region. This modestly sized town has a rather large standing militia due to the fact is it so close to the mountains and in such a hostile area. While the town is growing it still has a militant aura about it that has caused some inhabitants to decide to live elsewhere. Those that stay however, have few worries beyond the weather and whether they can bring in the crop or food to survive. The weather is warm and welcome in the spring and summer, allowing for crops to grow in abundance if winter doesnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t hold on to long. Fishing and hunting are both major staples in the town, however, they do not ship any meat out to other towns as it is needed to feed the town during the harsh winters. Crops grow in abundance during certain times of the year and during especially good years, they send a portion of their harvest to Stormgarde for trade on tools, weapons, and items they do not have.

The River Aloma splits the town directly in half, with three bridges that ford the river to travel from side to side. The stone bridges are wide enough to drive two horse drawn wagons abreast without being cramped, and are still high enough for small boats to pass under. The bridges were made by the Gison as a gift of friendship to one of their neighbors, who to this day have helped the Gison with food stuffs during times of need. The river is wide enough and deep enough to accommodate small vessels to travel from the Bay of Pearls all the way to Meer van de Sterren.

Crime is not welcome in Shaedra. Being that the population is nearly all made up of military, prior-military, or local militia no one has any desire to steal or rob anyone of their property. A fellowship between everyone has developed over time and everyone helps where it is needed. The few times that someone does move in or travel through who does commit a crime, the punishment is swift and harsh. Mostly sending people out to either mine, or forest lumber is small work gangs.

Magic is a rare occupation among the villagers of Shaedra, however it is not frowned on. Conocha who study Earth Magic tend to get a better reception though as they have talents that can be used to assist in their living, as well as an occasional one who studies Air Magic. Priests are always a welcome site and occasionally are invited to dine with the Baron to hear news of the world. Most of the military are highly religious in one form or another, thanking one Deity or another for their continued life.

Stink flies, and Blood Dodgers are among the most unwelcome sight of summer. When the cold finally leaves and the ground begins to warm, both swarm the air looking for food and mates. Stink flies do no real damage to a person they just have a horrible smell when crushed that leaves a lasting odor for days. Blood Dodgers on the other hand are a worry. They swarm in the hundreds and attack any living thing to drain the blood to feed themselves and their eggs. Each one can lay about 20 eggs at a time up to 100 before they finally die. About 50% do not make it due to other insects or weather, but a large swarm can drain a child in minutes if not carefully watched. When groups or large swarms are found, groups of the townsmen come out to smoke the nests to kill them to eliminate the threat. They are called Blood Dodgers because they are so small they are difficult to kill. Smoking them is far faster and easier way to get rid of them.

In 1630A, when the Dragons first took flight, the coldest winter known hit Shaedra like a hammer hitting an anvil. Winter came early and it came quickly, killing crops and cattle alike without warning. It was so cold that at times trees would burst from the inside and explode as their tree sap hardened and expanded. Over half the population died because of lack of warmth and lack of food. If not for the help of the Gison who have their mountain homes close by, the entire town would have perished. The Gison took the survivors into their mountain holes and feed them and kept them warm until spring came. The town was in ruins and food was still scarce, but the Gison helped rebuild the town, building the stone bridges across the River Aloma to get to more fertile land. Ever since then, the townsfolk and the Gison have had a mutual respect for each other.

There are also a two groups of ruins across the River Aloma in the mountains. Rumors of them being haunted are as numerous as the rumors of hidden riches. Most who do go there find little, but occasionally parties that do go never return.

- Stormgarde - located in the northern most tip of the kingdom, it stands strong vigil over the mountain passes to the north and the sea passage to the west. Stormgarde, while a fairly good sized port, tends to be modestly populated city. The majority of the population are fisherman, hunters, miners, and military. Fishing is a major staple in the diet as there is little suitable crop land to use for cattle as well as crops. ItÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s major export other than fish are the minerals and ore that are extracted from the nearby mountains.

The city itself is built between a fiord and a mountain pass offering full range of view over the Bay of Pearls and the mountain passes from their watch towers. Stormgarde was originally built as a fortified outpost to watch the northern border of Kerrabar and defend the Kingdom against any of the Corrupted that tried to swarm through the passes. Its location was ideal for a small navel port to supply the military with easier access for troop movements along the coast and to give navel support for some of the weaker coastal towns that dot the northern coastline.

Magic use is a very scarce occupation in Stormgarde as Baron Gael Boma has a certain dislike toward them. There is a very small guild house in the far side of the city that welcomes Conocha with open arms, however they stick to the shadows and alleyways whenever the Baron is in the city. Many have been known to be charged with unusual crimes to either have them removed from the city, or dealt with privately. So, to avoid all this, they tend to stay out of site.

While every so often a raiding tribe of rogue Keirn harass the outlying area, the main problem is with roving bands of corrupted. Oba`ke raids happen frequently during the winter months when food becomes scarce and competition among the groups heighten. They will come from the mountain passes in small forces and raid the homes and farms not inside the city. Occasionally, if the winter is bad enough, they will attempt to raid the city itself, but the city garrison is well manned and is rarely hard pressed for these occasional attacks. While they question everyone who come into their lands and are wary of outsiders, they will accept anyone willing to work, fight, and protect everything the Stormgarde stands for. So there are a few local Sslassti roaming the city that do not get harassed by the locals.

And while it is growing to a modest city, the nobility have seen no reason to move to its colder climate and choose to stay where it is warmer with more comforts.

In 3510A, toward the end of the Golden Age of Prosperity, the first signs of the Dark Uprising in the north were seen. A group of close to one hundred Keirn were seen rushing to the city with weapons pulled. Thinking this was an attack on the city itself, the city defense was alerted and they waited for assault. It never came however, the Keirn stopped before the city walls and requested permission to enter the city. They were blood covered and weary and had a gleam in their eyes that worried the City Guard. Before a choice could be made, a horde of Oba`ke the corrupted came from the northern passes and swarmed down on the awaiting Keirn slaughtering everyone with no remorse. Women and children fell before the city realized what was transpiring below. Archers set to work on thinning the ranks of the corrupted so the gates could be opened, and the Keirn were let in. With the help of those who would fight the Keirn and the humans were able to push back the assault of the corrupted Oba`ke. Since then Stormgarde and the local tribes have had a mutual respect and understanding of each other and their territory. The Keirn trade freely with only those in Stormgarde and Stormgarde offers shelter when in need.

- Venkis - located at the mouth of the River Vella, Venkis has a commanding view of the Bay of Pearls. On clear nights, occasionally the lights from Stormgarde can be seen across the bay. Venkis is the major shipping port for the kingdom and deals with most of the navel aspect of the military. The majority of the workers deal with either the fishing or shipping industry as it is the most abundant trade to date. There is fertile land to the east that is worked by local land holders, but fishing is the major food supply in the city. While the city itself seems huge it is only spread out across the landscape and molds to the hillsides and river banks. More often than not where a road hits a hill or a river, it will follow the contour instead of going over or through it. There are walkways across the water in some areas but few wagon roads as the Merchant Quarter is where the market place is located and it is nestled very close to the warehouse district and the main entrance to the city.

The city itself is built on the eastern side of the River Vella and has a large naval yard in the mouth of the bay. The civilian harbor is patrolled by military longboats daily to ensure there is as little illegal shipping, illegal transportation of goods, or other illegal or harmful acts being done. Slavery is not accepted in the kingdom and only work gangs are only considered acceptable by the government for needs of punishment for criminals. This is a true port city, the streets are wide and open to let the ocean breeze filter through to cool off the cobblestones daily, and to remove the stench of the warehouse district where all the tanneries and fisheries are located. The locals call this Dirty Town as it is rarely cleaned more than once every few months.

Crime is relatively high, yet organized in the city. The leaders of the Syndicate here are smarter than those in Volmara and keep things relatively quiet and isolated. They tend to only rob those who would fail to report the loss to the authorities due to the unsure nature of the items or funds that were lost. Murder, while not unknown, is very uncommon. The few drunken brawls that lead to serious harm or death happen, but actually murder is rare as it attracts to much attention. Now, people come up missing on a regular basis. Kidnaping for ransom is a practice that is becoming more and more popular as it pays the quickest and most of the time can be done without any repercussions as long as the person who was kidnaped is not overly important to the Duke or another important noble.

Magic shops frequent the city occasionally, but rarely ever last due to the fact that there is little to sell to anyone who is not a Conocha. There is no real academy here but a small group of regular Conocha frequent the city and even have bought an inn that charges smaller fees to Conocha of all kinds. This inn is also home to the MidnightÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s Apothecary. The MidnightÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s Apothecary is the only store to stand the test of time, as it is run by a group of Conocha who offer services to the public as well as the local government. They hire themselves out for various tasks and even have devised a way to create spell cubes similar to a scroll only much smaller and far cheaper to make. These cubes have minor spells carved into them that can be used by anyone who is taught how to use them.

While they are farthest from the borders that have local hostileÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s, the city of Venkis still has their share of difficulty. Occasionally small fleets of raiders that come from islands west of the coast, rogue Keirn, pirates, and even swarms of abominations that come from the water or the near by Isle de Sangellaso cause problems for the locals. That is where the navy comes in. The navy of Venkis is unsurpassed by any other culture so far to date, as they are one of the few cities to be predominate on the ocean and therefore have built up a need for a navy. Over half of the military is basically navy, while a good portion of the local militia are fishermen or traders with armed ships.

In 2780A, a large fleet of raiders and pirates crested the horizon over the Bay of Pearls. While the fleet was not larger than the one that Venkis could deploy, half of their ships were on patrol up and down the coast and were not there to assist in blockading the bay. What made this enemy fleet worse is that there were Conocha (Magic Users) on the ships using their magic to assist the raiders as well as ships of corrupted sailing recklessly toward the harbor. Fast coast huggers were sent to gather the remaining fleet and the fight for the harbor ensued. For two days the battle slowly reached closer and closer into the harbor. Already a handful of ships had landed in the harbor or up and down the coast and had assaulted the city in various places. Fighting had erupted everyone and the streets ran with blood from both defender and raider. The raiding Conocha laid havoc to the defenders ships and defenses, using their magic to destroy ships and sections of the harbor so that the defenders had little choice but to fall back to the coast. When it seemed that the rest of the invaders would finally unload into the city and overrun the rest of the defenders with their superior numbers, the rest of the Venkis fleet arrived. When the other half of VenkisÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s fleet arrived it had a portion of the small fleet of Stormgarde as flanking ships to stop the smaller swifter cutters from getting behind the larger troop ships. They encircled the raiders ships and sunk everyone to the keel and shot anyone swimming in the water giving no quarter even to those who asked. The street fighting lasted in pockets for a few days afterwards, but finally most of the invaders were killed or driven out. From then on the local fisherman decided to raise their ships in the defense of the city, and Conocha volunteered to sail on board the naval ships in case another incident like this happened again.

Fey HoundA fey hound is a majestic animal, blending feline and wolf aspects to form a complete graceful animal.

Appearance A fey hound is rather large, with itÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s shoulders sitting at about 5 Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â½ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ and itÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s very intelligent eyes that glimmer in total darkness. It looks like a wolf, however it has the speed and the grace of a great feline similar to a panther. It's coat is very soft and dark. dark browns and blacks are very common, with shades of grey spotted throughout.

When actually seen, it is viewed as a good omen or good luck. Their coats are coveted by poachers and collectors and a live young hound is worth a king's ransom in some places. Softer than silk and more durable than common leather and fur, the rich and wealthy pay a fortune to own such a unique and rarely found item.

Society Fey Hounds live in small family pacts. Usually a male is head of the family and the rest follow his lead. On average a family pact will be anywhere from two to five hounds living together, roaming the countryside. The females nurture their young until they are old enough to fend on their own. The young usually only stay a few years after their birth, then move on to make family pacts of their own.

They are very close knit and will protect one of their own kind as often as one of their own pact.

Personality They are very shy and skittish of outside people, mostly humans and other bipeds. They learned long ago that not all of the bipeds are the same. While some respect them other covet them. They tend to stay away from populated areas and will usually hide when people approach.

They are very good natured however, and if the trust of one can be garnered then it is a trust and respect for the life of the family pact. They let others of their kind know who they trust and who they don't. Their communication is very broad and swift.

They are helpers of those who call the wilderness their home. They will come to the aid of someone who calls their home the same as the hounds. As long as they have gained the respect of the male of the pact, then they will be viewed as a friend. Stories of harsh winters where pacts of hounds hunted for trapped weary frontiersmen filter through the wilderness towns and villages. Gathering food and branches for fire to keep them warm.

They have a hatred toward all things unnatural and will often join the fight when dealing with any creature fitting that quality. They have a special dislike toward worgs. Where they will often fight to the death just to remove one from their natural order. They travel in small packs and are rarely seen alone.